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Chapter 6: Blues Progressions, Song Forms, and Moves
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If you’re wondering how musical charts and
symbols relate to the actual songs (melody and
lyrics), here’s the quick version:
The 12-bar blues breaks down neatly into
three lines of four bars each. These three
lines correspond to the vocal phrases.
The vocal scheme of the blues is A-A-B.
Each letter represents a sentence, complete
thought, or phrase of the lyric.
The 12-bar blues in song
Think of any 12-bar blues, such as “Hound
Dog,” “Stormy Monday,” “Kansas City,” “St.
Louis Blues,” “Easy Rider,” or “Corrina,
Corrina.” Each song has three lines per
verse, with the first line repeated.
Even though the first vocal line is repeated, it
never sounds repetitious, because the chords
underneath the lyric and melody change, which
provides interest. You can actually sing any of
these songs along to any 12-bar progression.
You may see the V chord in the turnaround bar with parentheses around it.
This method is shorthand for saying that you use the turnaround optionally
or whenever you decide to repeat the progression. When you want the progression
to end, you ignore the parentheses and continue playing the I chord
from the previous bar.
Slow blues
Slow blues is usually a 12-bar blues, but played in 12/8 time, using three
strums to the beat. Because of the slower tempo, there’s often more opportunity
to put in additional chords — especially with the use of ninth chords (for
more on ninth chords, see Chapter 12), a common slow-blues hallmark.
Figure 6-5 is a slow 12-bar blues in 12/8 time with its own moves added —
moves that consist of adding chords a whole step higher before the main
ones. But it’s still a 12-bar blues. You can hear a lot of this quality in the playing
of T-Bone Walker.
One irony of slow blues is that while the tempo is slower than a shuffle, and
the changes come more slowly and are therefore more manageable, the lead
playing is often very intricate, especially with regard to rhythm. If you ever
get a chance to see transcribed guitar solos in print, look at the ones in a
slow 12/8. The notation can get quite hairy!
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